Baseball card game



March 17, 1925.

R. D. HAMMONS BASEBALL CARD GAME Filed March 9, 1925 arm/r55 1 BASE ADMCE ML Rl/AWEB 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .ZZZJS BALLS Q Q Q Q Q5 Z-BASE 3 HIT AOVA/WZ'ALL RM 2 BASES ssrsvsr a PENN/B wr mrmav I i/H 39147-2 a I eaAss 5 3-8ASE March 17, 1925,

R. D. HAMMONS BASEBALL CARD GAIE 2 Sheets-Shoat 2 Filed March 9, 1923 Z'Z g7/ I QB 70L E N ONE BALL

5 WM 1 A g g. .5 mrmvm. ay 5 W 35% E m B m m R- 5 my WK Am mm 1 B W Patented Mar. 17,1925.

UNITED STATES BAY D, HAMMONS, 0F GARY, INDIANA.

BASEBALL cam) GAME.

Application filed March 9, 1923. Serial No. 828,858.

To all whom it may comem Be it known that I, RAY D. HAMMoNs. citizen of the United States, 1'esiding at Gary, Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Baseball Card Game; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to card games and in general aims to provide a deck of cards by means of which a game; corresponding closely to a league game of base ball. in its general range of possibilities and its scoring, may be played either by two players or by a larger number among whom the cards .are distributed.

For this general purpose, my invention provides a game equipment corresponding in the facility of its employment to an ordinary deck of cards and desirably adapted to be packed in an ordinary card case in the same manner. vides cards adapted to be dealt out indiscriminately and including two distinct groups of cards, namely a score-advancing group designating favorable plays (or attempted plays made on behalf of the side which is at bat) and a second group of cards designating defensive plays orpla-y-retarding moves on the part of the side which is fielding. Furthermore, my invention aims to provide these two groups of cards in proportions corresponding fairly both in the relative frequency of the plays designated by them and in their total relative numbei to the frequency of the corresponding occurrences in an average well played game of base ball. It also aims to provide scorekeeping cards adapted to be printed simultaneously with the aforesaid cards and to be packed in the same package or card case with the latter, such score-keeping cards be ing respectively arranged for keeping track of the men on the bases, for keeping count of the strikes and for keeping count of the fouls called by the umpire.

Furthermore, my invention aims to include among the score-advancing cards certain cards respectively designating one, two and three base hits, and a pair of cards adapted when played consecutively to desi nate a home run. It also aims to inclu e More particularly, it pro-' among the score-advancing cards certain cards designating called Balls and including a larger number of One ball cards then Two ball cards.

My invention also provides score-retardmg cards or play-annulling cards including cards designating the batter as put out at first base, and a relatively smaller number of cards designating the batted ball as caught on the fly and designating two men as put out by a caught fly. Furthermore, my invention provides among such score-retarding cards certain cards designating called Strikes and including a larger number of cards designating a single called strike and a relatively smaller number of cards designating two called strikes. It also includes among the score-retarding cards certain cards designating fouls and a relatively smaller number of cards designating a successful double play. Furthermore, it includes among the score-retarding cards certain ones designating the highest runner as out and certain others designating the lowest runner as put out, and desirably with the former or Highest runner out cards greater in number than the Lowest runner out cards.

Moreover, my invention aims to provide a deck of cards for a base ball game in which the entire set can readily be imprinted on the regulation fifty-two card form as employed by playing card manufacturers, in which the fifty-two card form will desirably also-include the needed score-keeping cards, in which the number of cards used for playing is a multiple of four, and in which the number of score-advancing cards and the number of score-retarding cards are each a multiple of four. Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, which drawings show the faces (partly in upper half fragments) of a deck of cards embodying my invention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the card of the deck used for keeping track of the men on the bases, with counters shown below the same for use with such a card.

Fig. 2 shows the card used for keeping track of the number of called strikes, with counters shown below the same for use with such a card.

Fig. 3 shows the card used for'keeping ing drawings, I provide a deck of cards corresponding desirably in size and shape to a standard deck of playing cards and all having similar backs so as to prevent their being distinguished from each other when turned face down. Of these cards, three are employed for keeping track of the plays and over half of the others have play-indicat ing designations favorable to the side which is at bat. These score-advancing cards are desirably twenty-eight in number and twenty-six of them desirably bear indications which are complete in themselves for denoting an attempted score-advancing play. The other two desirably are companion cards each bearing only one part of the attempted score-advancing play designation, thereby adapting these for joint use in denoting such a rarely occurring play as a home run.

The twenty-sixself-contained score-advancing cards'desirably are divided as follows as to their number and the effective designations on their faces:

Two cards l-Base hit One card 2-Base hit One card 3-Base hit Three cards Batter to 1st One card Batter hit Two cards Advance runners 1 base Two cards Stolen base, advance highest runner 1 base One card Pitchers balk, advance runners 1 base One card Passed. ball, advance 1 base up to 3rd One card 2 stolen bases, counts only when there are 2 runners Four cards 2 balls, counts as 1 ball in case of 3 balls on batter Seven cards One ball.

As for the two semi-complete score-advancing cards, I desirably designate one as Home and the other as Run, so that they will jointly spell out the indication Home run when played consecutively, it being immaterial which one is played first.

The other or score-retarding cards are desirably twenty in number and desirably have face characteristics which distinguish them at a glance from the score-advancing cards, as for example by having their faces tinted after the manner indicated by the color lining in Figs. 19 to 27 inclusive. These score-retarding cards have designations which desirably are distributed among them substantially as follows:

Four cards Batter out at first Two cards Fly, batter out One card Fly, 2 outs (batter and highest runner out) Three cards-Highest runner out One card Lowest runner out One card Double play, 2 highest runners or batter and highest runner out Two cards 2 strikes, counts as 1 in case of two strikes on batter Three cards 1 strike Three cards Foul, counts a strike until 2 strikes are made.

In the score-advancing cards, the desig-.

nation of each card in general will indicate the attempted favorable play to anyone familiar with base ball, but additional explanatory rulings may be included on the faces of certain cards, as shown for example in Figs. 5, 6, 11, 13, 14 and 15. So also, explanatory wording to obviate disputes is desirably included on some of the scoreretarding cards, as indicated on Fig. 27 and in the above schedule of such cards. However, I do not wish to be limited to the inclusion of such explanations on the faces of the cards, nor to the particular wording here disclosed. Then I may also add abbreviated corner indications as shown in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive.

While the rules for playing a base ball game with the deck of cards of my invention may be varied considerably, I have found that a highly interesting game closely approaching a well played actual game of base ball can be attained by the following simple procedure:

The forty-eight cards are shuflied and dealt alternately to the players on the opposing sides until each holds four cards, the dealers side being considered as in the field first, with the opposing side at hat. The player to the left of the dealer, who is on the side at bat, then plays some card which if possible will place a man on his side on a base. Then the next player (who is on the fielding side) plays a card, using his judgment as to the cards selected for putting the batter out or otherwise retarding the play of the previously presented card. The playing continues in this manner until each player has run out of cards, after which four more cards are dealt to each player as before. Thus the playing continues until three men on the batting side have been put out. If this point is not reached by the time all forty-eight cards are played, the cards are again shuttled and redistributed for continuing the same inning. In this case a Home or Run card, if it is the last card played before the cards are again shuflled, holds over as tov its eflect, so that the proposed home run isscored if the first card played after the cards have been shuiiied and again dealt out is the companion card.

Then the game is thus played, it will be obvious that the number of favorable and unfavorable cards held by each player will vary continuously, so that each player is often compelled to play cards which are against the interests of his side, thereby adding reatly to the fascination of the game. F urt ermore, if a card which it is necessary for some one to play indicates an impossible play, as for example a Lowest runner out card when there are no runners on the bases, the indication of this card is simply ignored.

Ordinarily, the three outs are reached while the players still hold cards and the opposing players then shift as to being at bat or in the field, but the playing is desirably continued without reshufl'ling or redistributing the cards. At each such shift the cards still held by each player which previously were favorable or unfavorable to him become the opposite. Consequently, anyone seeing the third put out approaching will play certain of his cards differently from what he would do otherwise. This adds to the amount of judgment and thought entering into the playing of my game, it being evident that while I employ only a relatively small number of cards and while my game can be easily learnt and understood, it is not primarily a game of chance but affords a fine opportunity for good judgment.

By employing forty-eight cards for the actual playing, I secure the desired multiple of four which readily adapts the deck to uniform distribution among two, four or six players, this number being ample for a range of indications which corresponds closely in its results to a well played actual game of base ball. Furthermore, this number of cards is within the number commonly printed on the regular forms employed by playing card manufacturers and permits the desirable four score-keeping cards to be included also within the regulation fifty-two card form. So also, by using cards of the same size for the score keeping purposes, I can readily pack the entire game in an ordinary card case or carton, including cardboard disks (shown at C in Figs. 1, 2 and 3) for use as counters in keeping the scores.

However, I do not wish to be limited to the use of score-keeping cards identical in size with the playing cards, nor to the exact wording of the presented indications on the various cards or the manner of presenting this wording on the cards, nor to other details of what I am here presenting, it being obvious that many changes might be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. A base-ball card game comprising score-advancing and score-retarding cards all identical as to their size and their backs, each card having on its face a designation corresponding-to a common play in baseball, together with two cards each bearing only a port on of a designation and adapted to count only when the said two cards are played consecutively.

2. A base-ball card game comprising score-advancing and score-retarding cards all identical as to their size and their backs, each card having on its face a designation corresponding to a common play in baseball, together with a pair of cards cooperating when played consecutively to spell out and indicate a Home run.

3. A base-ball card game comprising score-advancing and score-retarding cards all identical as to their size and their backs and each having on its face a designation corresponding to a common play in baseball, the said cards including a relatively small number of cards jointly indicating a iven play when played consecutively, the

ar reater number of cards each having a sing e and complete play indicating designation.

4. A base-ball card game comprising a total of not over 52 cards of uniform size and shape and comprisng three groups; one group having score-keeping face indications, a second group having score-retarding face indications, and a third group having score-advancing face indications; the score-keeping cards including cards having face indications respectively adapted for keepin count of called Strikes, called Fouls and Put-outs? Signed at Chicago, Illinois, March 6th,

RAY D. HAMMONS. 

